A WOMAN on benefits has been told to pay more than £2,000 in fines and costs after breaching planning laws.

Jenna Light appeared at Southampton Magistrates' Court and admitted failing to remove unauthorised caravans, equipment and a building from a field at Charles Lane, Ringwood.

The case was brought by the National Park Authority (NPA) following enforcement action taken against the defendant two years ago.

Julia Mutlow, prosecuting, said Light lost an appeal against the action but NPA planning officer Lucy Cooper later visited the site and discovered the three caravans were still there, together with the equipment and the building.

Miss Mutlow told the court: "The defendant says she's had some difficulty getting the stuff off the land but that's no excuse.

"If this sort of thing was allowed to proliferate across the New Forest it would completely change the landscape. We have to take it seriously."

Light, 32, of Matchams Lane in Hurn, pleaded guilty to failing to comply with an enforcement notice.

After confirming she was on benefits she said the caravans were already on the land when she and her husband John bought it in 2015 with money he had inherited from his parents.

But she was fined £200 with £2,000 costs and told to pay a victim surcharge of £30 - a total financial penalty of £2,230.

John Light, 47, also of Matchams Lane, had also faced an allegation of failing to comply with an enforcement notice. However, Miss Mutlow offered no evidence against him following his wife's guilty plea and the summons was withdrawn.

The case follows a long planning battle over the unauthorised use of the field.

The enforcement notice issued by the NPA in 2015 cited the presence of caravans, non-agricultural equipment and "paraphernalia" including a trailer, carriage and horsebox.

During the subsequent hearing the Lights blamed the former owners or occupiers of the land.

But a government-appointed planning inspector who heard the appeal said in his report: "This is not a legitimate defence.

"It's not a matter of who perpetrated the alleged breach but whether it has occurred as a matter of fact and whether it's still occurring.

"Unlawful development does not become lawful due to the sale of land to another party."